Conditions for and Impediments to Social Change

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Transcript of Conditions for and Impediments to Social Change

Conditions for and Impediments to Social ChangeCONDITIONS FOR SOCIAL CHANGEThere are 3 conditions social change:1. Leadership2. The role of elites3. A populace ready for changeIMPEDIMENTS TO CHANGEThere are 3 factors that could delay or slow down change from occurring:

1. Traditional Cultural Values2. The Expense3. Social Science InquiryCONFORMITY & ALIENATIONPlease define the following terms in your notes:anomiealienationproletariatanarchistinformational influencenormative influenceALIENATIONMarx lived in a time where a lot of social change was occurringhe noticed that people had a hard time adjusting and coined the term "ANOMIE"this term referred to industrial workers who seemed to be without any roots or norms as they struggled to survive dailyHe wrote about alienation of the proletariat (working people) & lumpenproletariat (unemployed people)Alienation now refers to anyone who doesn't share major values of society and feels like an outsiderCONFORMITYthis happens when we feel pressure to accept societal normswhen the majority of people feel generally the same way, subjective

validity occurs: when we belong to a group of people with similar views this reinforces our values and encourages us to be around those who share the same valueswithout subjective validity most of us would experience uncertintyLEADERSHIPchange is more likely to occur if the leader has charisma or is charismatica charismatic leader: a leader with a large vision, magnetic style, strong popular supportthis type of leader places great demands on their followers, promises rewards for their support yet maintains a distance between themselves and those they leadExample: Chinese leader Mao Zedong: forced those he lead into communism, promised benefits of communist life including freedom from poverty and exploitationallowed those he lead to warship his image thereby maintaining distance between himself and the peopleMao Zedong = an example of a leader's ability to sway people and change society for good or badLEADERSHIP CONTINUED...Example of a leader who changed society not for the better

Hitler swayed people by his vision and personalityImposed massive change on Germany and most of Europe

#2: The Role of Elitesa charismatic leader doesn't appear in every societyModernizing Elites are another force that can cause social changeThese are groups of people who create social change & influence the direction in which it goesExample: An elite political group of princes have brought about social change with the help of increasing wealth from oil reservesremember: social change is achieved through various modernizing elites and not a single charismatic leader - a combination of both#3: A Populace Ready for Changeif the people aren't ready for change nothing will happenfor change to happen the vision of the leader has to fit with the "mood" of the peopleHumans form and change their attitudes over time and these changes are on goingmost values are acquired early in life and stay with usTraditional Cultural ValuesThe ExpenseSocial Science Inquiryholding on to tradition can hold back social changeExample: James Scott observed The Sedaka (an agricultural community in Malaysia) he noted the poor workers were kept in place by routine repression (Scott, 1985, P. 274)in the 1970s rich owners of rice farms wanted to mechanize the rice harvesting processworkers objected because they would be out of a jobworkers resorted to everyday forms of peasant resistance: they deserted, sabotaged, stole, slowed workingworkers wanted to maintain tradition for their purposesif the change is too costly, it could slow down the degree of change that takes placeExampleIn Canada we use tax payers money to achieve social goals in response to the public's demandsExamples include: Universal Health Care starting in the 1960s and in 2001 allowing parents leave work for up to 1 year after the birth of a childPrograms such as these are costly and not every program can be introduced because the taxpayers would have to pay for it and there's only so much money available to fund programsAs a result, programs get cast aside due to their expensethe nature of conducting social science research can also cause changeParticipatory research (a technique used by Sociologists) is often used to gather knowledge to empower oppressed groupsmembers of the oppressed groups decide on the goals & methods of study & hos the findings should be usedExample: groups such as sweing machine operators who work at a piece rate can make good subjects for this type of studyLimitations to Participatory ResearchPR might not work with severely marginalized groups such as illegal immigrantschallenge of literacy or language barrierssome members are scattered geographicallysome are too busy putting food on the table & workingADVOCACY RESEARCHThis research method tries to highlight & social change inequality but doesn't require individuals to participate to the same degreeThis method assumes the researcher is the advocate not the participantsALIENATION CONT...reasons for people's alienation vary from discrimination to general dissatisfaction of an unhappy teenthis sometimes leads to some joining gangs or cults that reject society's valuesextremely alienated individuals are known as anarchistsit's normal to feel alienated at times i.e. someone who is unemployed might feel alienated towards a society that values material wealth and professional success over other types of successROOTS OF CONFORMITYThe pressure to conform comes in 2 types:1. INFORMATIONAL INFLUENCE: the human desire to accept information that another, admired person tells us is valid. Example: Listening to your parents when they say smoking is bad for you.the more uncertain you are the more you're likely to adhere to informational influence2. NORMATIVE INFLUENCE: The pressure to conform to the positive expectations of others. Example: When a child pursues the same career as one or both of their parents

ALIENATION & CONFORMITY AS FORCES OF SOCIAL CHANGEalienation & conformity are build into the society around usalienation can be so severe that it causes people to give up and accept life in the margins, crime or dire povertyit can also be a positive forceWomen in the 1960s experienced alienation because of attitudes towards their role in societythis alienation lead to the women's movement and lead to social change in societyConformityit generally discourages social changeExample: doing the same routine day after day and not changing it up OR fearing the consequences of wearing a new piece of clothing to school, you decide to wear the same clothes as everyone elseConsequences of conformity: we do something that we know it's right& accept the practiceEXAMPLE: your friends bully the new student at your school but you don't speak up or do anything about itExample: Going along with the apartheid in South Africa